Memphians celebrate saving lives at Lifeblood's Donor Fest

Donor Fest logs a record

Kyle Kurlick/Special to The Commercial Appeal
Tristan Chamberlain (right) and his mother Cristy Justice are among the first to donate blood at Lifeblood’s annual Donor Fest on Saturday. This year marks Lifeblood’s 50th anniversary.

The one thing that keeps Shaun M. Brennan calm at the sight of a needle is the fact that he's saving lives.

Brennan, 50, has donated about 60 gallons of blood since 1999 to Red Cross, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Lifeblood. For his 312 donations, Brennan was honored Saturday at Lifeblood's fourth annual Donor Fest at Audubon Park.

With 25 percent of donations coming from blood drives at area high schools and colleges, Lifeblood hosts its annual Donor Fest to keep its stock from falling too low during summer, said Susan Berry-Buckley, CEO of the regional nonprofit.

"I don't really take myself seriously, but this is something I do take very seriously," Brennan said.

After hearing about a co-worker who was donating blood, Brennan pushed past his fear of needles to become a regular donor. Since then, Brennan said he has never missed an appointment to donate.

One pint of blood can help save up to three lives, which means the 60 gallons Brennan has donated may have saved as many as 1,440 lives.

The goal of the organization, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, was to get 1,963 donations Saturday. With 30 minutes left in Saturday's drive, Lifeblood had collected a little more than 1,700 donations. Berry-Buckley said she expected about 20 to 30 more people to donate during the celebration.

"This is a milestone," Berry-Buckley said. "It's a great way to say thanks for everything that all these people have done."

Saturday's Donor Fest marked 1,700 donations, the highest number of do

nations Lifeblood has received through the event. The second highest was 1,500 at the 2012 Donor Fest, Berry-Buckley said.

The festival, which had about 500 participants at the park, featured live music, a rock climbing wall, face-painting, free food and a mobile donation station where guests could give blood.

Another regular donor, Janet Shipman, is also a member of Lifeblood's board. Shipman donates because her blood type is immune to certain viruses, which allows her blood to be used to help newborn babies, making it even more valuable to organizations such as Lifeblood.

Shipman said she's happy knowing that she's able to help sustain someone's life. It's a good deed she refers to by the Hebrew word mitzvah.

"We don't always know who we matter to, but we know we matter to someone," she said. "It's a mitzvah, to be able to do this."